Iraq Bombings Kill At Least 73

Civilians inspect the aftermath of car bomb attack that exploded in Baghdad earlier this week. Iraq has been gripped by violence in recent months.

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Iraq Bombings Kill At Least 73

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A spate of bombings and shootings across Iraq has killed at least 73 people on one of the bloodiest days in the country in months.

In the deadliest incident on January 15, a bomb planted in a funeral tent killed at least 18 people in Buhriz, a village north of Baghdad in Diyala Province.

A short time later, at least seven car bombs went off minutes apart in majority-Shi'ite or confessionally mixed neighborhoods across Baghdad, killing at least 23 people.

Assailants blew up a bridge in Ain al-Jahash, in the northwest near Mosul, as an army patrol crossed it, killing six soldiers and wounding eight others, including civilians.

Gunmen also killed seven truck drivers in the Shi'ite district of Maamil outside of Baghdad.

Meanwhile, in the restive Anbar Province, fighting between police and Sunni tribesmen on one side and Al-Qaeda-linked militants and other Sunni tribesmen on the other side raged on in the southern and western parts of Ramadi and in the nearby city of Fallujah.

Battles were especially fierce in the Al-Taamim District, where security forces claimed to have recaptured territory from the insurgents and their allies.

More families have fled Ramadi to avoid the fighting and an estimated 1,800 people are staying in some 15 schools.

In the village of Saqlawiya, northwest of Fallujah, security forces retook the police station and overran insurgent checkpoints.

The Iraqi military also carried out air raids against insurgent positions east of Fallujah. The military says it killed 11 gunmen in the raids.

In Fallujah, 12 UN vehicles carrying food, fuel, and other supplies arrvied in the city and distributed their stocks to residents.

The violence in Anbar Province began 15 days ago when Al-Qaeda-linked militants took control of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi after the army pulled out at the request of locals who were angered by the dismantlement of a Sunni protest camp and the arrest of a Sunni member of parliament.